The besieged Mexican government has a new tool in the info war against drug cartels: animated, online propaganda comics set to electronic beats.

The 10-episode comic series, posted over the summer in two- to three-minute episodes to the blog of President Felipe Calderon, is the latest weapon in a "cultural struggle" against drug cartels. The comics are said to be "a new space for communication" that will "help us better understand the phenomenon of organized crime," said federal security spokesman Alejandro Poire. That is, government propaganda with a pop art twist.

"We cannot allow, as a government and society, impunity for criminals to invade cultural spheres to normalize their crimes, weaken our values and impede the construction of a culture of legality that we all need to achieve genuine security," Poire said. He added, "We should not be indifferent to these ‘narco-corridos.' We already were for too long."

For the first episode, the government's security strategy is presented as a holistic campaign involving civil society organizations cooperating via a modern communications center - although also backed up by plenty of body armor and guns. It's part of "a comprehensive strategy in which the use of public force is only one of its ingredients." Other ingredients include improving the military's technological and operational capabilities, reforming legal institutions, preventing crime, working with partner nations and boosting coordination between Mexico's different states.

This isn't the first time Mexico's leaders have fought back against narcocultura – the criminal culture which narcocorrido tunes are but one (albeit prominent) feature. Last year, adherents to the cult of Santa Muerte, or ôHoly Deathö accused the government of religious discrimination after army troops destroyed more than 30 shrines placed along roads in the city of Nuevo Laredo. In January, a self-appointed bishop of the cult was arrested. The skeletal death saint is a common symbol for outlaws and drug traffickers.